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Yes, it will sound like blasphemy on WW, but do some of you enjoy putting on heavy set of wheels (say 36 hole Mavic CXP), well over 2kg for flat rides. My tubular light hoops seem to lose momentum so quickly and require constant pedalling, while heavy ones do not.While I love the feel and acceleration of my nimble tubular set, I also enjoy flywheel effect of my heaviest hoops for some rides.They also carry speed so well and are apparently stiffer.What's your opinion?cheersVictor

While I can't see the physics part makes it better, there may be something to the on/off pedaling style - and heavier wheels support that. I was going through that with my son just this morning on maybe using a heavier (disc) on a TT vs. some light 55 mm profiles.

Reasons to go light on the flats...-Heavier wheels by definition have more mass. If that mass is pushing wind (like extra spokes) rather than flowing it, that's not good. -Sometime bad roads, winds may through the bike and the rider has to bring it back on track. Heavier wheels add to the overall inertia and the rider has to overcome changes in inertia using their own energy. -Riding in a pack...as above, if there are lots of changes in inertia, and with good racers there will be purposely caused changes, the heavier wheels just take more work.

Reasons to go heavy on flats...-Rider does not want to lose speed when coasting. Esp. the case where speed is above where the rider may be comfortable spinning.A technique of spin fast, coast, spin fast, coast can be faster than a continuous spin. Of course the solution may be a bigger gear - which is not always an option for junior racers.

The wheels need to compliment the bike. Case in point, I used to run a CX frame for winter bike, with 36h Open Pros and Shimano hubs, but never found real joy in the combo. Now I put those wheels on another (a road) frame, total weight being very similar, and it feels just great. The CX frame in the meantime has been fitted with 650b wheels, voluminous tyres, and a flat bar, and is making me grin on rough terrain.

If heavier wheels means more durable wheels, then my answer is yes to the question.

At this time of year the weather here in Scandinavia os cold and wet (-2 <-> +5 C/ 28 <-> 41 F). And all the dirt and sand from the road sticks to the rims and brake pads. It´s only a matter of weeks/few months, before this cocktail kills the braking surface on light wheels with thin braking surface.

In the matter of performance, light wheels IMHO will always be better...

My Nemesis/Record/DT Comp wheels are really my favorite wheels to ride. The stability is markedly better than any light deeper profile carbon offering I've used. I wondered why this was the case at first, and I'm still not sure, but I do think it's more than just the wind factor against the higher profile of the carbon rims. So as a very unscientific experiment I took a Nemesis front wheel and spun it while holding the axle ends in my hands, and while it was spinning I twisted it around a bit from side to side etc as if to mimic what's happening when it is in the fork. I did the same thing with my light Bora front wheel. The Nemesis really wanted to return to it's most stable position a lot more forcefully than the Bora, which almost felt a bit wonky doing the same things. Try it. Anyway, I attributed to kind of a "gyroscopic" effect as a result of more weight further out from the axle, even though I'm not really sure what that is other than playing with gyroscopes as a kid. But, in real world riding, I feel much, much more stable descending at speed down a twisty descent on the Nemesis than I do on the Boras or other higher profile carbon wheels I've tried. As for climbing, I guess if I was racing I might want a lighter wheel (the Nemesis/Record combo is 1740g I think or thereabouts, but then again I like to feel confident on the descent so I don't know. But for just riding anywhere and everywhere I absolutely love these wheels. Bulletproof, easily maintained, and the record hubs just spin and spin and spin. And I do like the glistening silver spokes.For flat rides in a group, I'll take the Boras, even if psychologically I "look" faster with them.

Sometimes I like the feel of a heavier rim especially when on the flats. It feels more like a freight train where as super light rims feel twitchy and unpredictable. With that said though I think that weight is a less important factor than the width/depth and overall profile.